Face masks have emotion-dependent dissociable effects on accuracy and confidence in identifying facial expressions of emotion

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in increased use of face masks worldwide. Here, we examined the effect of wearing a face mask on the ability to recognise facial expressions of emotion. In a within-subjects design, 100 UK-based undergraduate students were shown facial expressions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and neutral expression; these were either posed with or without a face mask, or with a face mask artificially imposed onto them. Participants identified the emotion portrayed in the photographs from a fixed choice array of answers and rated their confidence in their selection. While overall accuracy was higher without than with masks, the effect varied across emotions, with a clear advantage without masks in disgust, happiness, and sadness; no effect for neutral, and lower accuracy without masks for anger and fear. In contrast, confidence was generally higher without masks, with the effect clear for all emotions other than anger. These results confirm that emotion recognition is affected by face mask wearing, but reveal that the effect depends on the emotion being displayed—with this emotion-dependence not reflected in subjects’ confidence. The disparity between the effects of mask wearing on different emotions and the failure of this to be reflected in confidence ratings suggests that mask wearing not only effects emotion recognition, but may also create biases in the perception of facial expressions of emotion of which perceivers are unaware. In addition, the similarity of results between the Imposed Mask and Posed Mask conditions suggests that prior research using artificially imposed masks has not been deleteriously affected by the use of this manipulation.

Effects of wearing a transparent face mask on perception of facial expressions

“…The mouth region plays a critical role in expressing (and thus eventually perceiving) happy faces, while the contribution of the mouth region to expressing other emotional faces vary among previous studies ( Boucher & Ekman, 1975 ; Calder et al, 2000 ; Calvo et al, 2014 ; Eisenbarth & Alpers, 2011 ; Hanawalt, 1944 ; Kotsia et al, 2008 ; Saumure et al, 2018 ; Schurgin et al, 2014 ). Consistent with these findings, previous studies have reported that the recognition of happy faces is impaired by mask-wearing ( Carbon, 2020 ; Grenville & Dwyer, 2022 ; Kim et al, 2022 ; Marini et al, 2021 ; Noyes et al, 2021 ; Parada-Fernández et al, 2022 ; Pazhoohi et al, 2021 ; Ramachandra & Longacre, 2022 ).…”

“…Being able to see the mouth region is crucial to recognize a happy face ( Boucher & Ekman, 1975 ; Calder et al, 2000 ; Calvo et al, 2014 ; Eisenbarth & Alpers, 2011 ; Hanawalt, 1944 ; Kotsia et al, 2008 ; Saumure et al, 2018 ; Schurgin et al, 2014 ). In addition, since many previous studies have reported impairments in emotion recognition ( Carbon, 2020 ; Grenville & Dwyer, 2022 ; Kim et al, 2022 ; Marini et al, 2021 ; Noyes et al, 2021 ; Parada-Fernández et al, 2022 ; Pazhoohi et al, 2021 ; Ramachandra & Longacre, 2022 ) and perceived emotion intensity ( Pazhoohi et al, 2021 ; Ramachandra & Longacre, 2022 ; Sheldon et al., 2021 ; Tsantani et al, 2022 ) of happy faces when wearing a surgical mask, we predicted to observe these impairments. We also expected that these impairments would be moderated by a transparent mask.…”

“…While mask-wearing is effective in controlling infection, many researchers have pointed to its negative side effects in interpersonal situations due to the partial occlusion of critical parts of the face. The occlusion significantly impairs recognition of facial emotions ( Carbon, 2020 ; Gori et al, 2021 ; Grenville & Dwyer, 2022 ; Grundmann et al, 2021 ; Kim et al, 2022 ; Marini et al, 2021 ; Noyes et al, 2021 ; Parada-Fernández et al, 2022 ; Pazhoohi et al, 2021 ; Ramachandra & Longacre, 2022 ) and perception of facial emotion intensity ( Pazhoohi et al, 2021 ; Ramachandra & Longacre, 2022 ; Sheldon et al, 2021 ; Tsantani et al, 2022 ). These negative effects on emotional facial communication occur because the features of the bottom half of the faces that signal effective cues for reading others’ facial expressions ( Blais et al, 2012 ; Bombari et al, 2013 ; Boucher & Ekman, 1975 ; Calder et al, 2000 ; Calvo et al, 2014 ; Eisenbarth & Alpers, 2011 ; Hanawalt, 1944 ; Kotsia et al, 2008 ; Saumure et al, 2018 ; Schurgin et al, 2014 ; Schyns et al, 2002 ; Wegrzyn et al, 2017 ) are occluded by the masks.…”

Impact of Using Facemasks on Literacy Learning: The Perception of Early Childhood Education Teachers

“…Numerous studies have shown that the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused difficulties in children to adapt to them, problems of functional discomfort [ 10 ], compatibility with the use of glasses or breathing difficulties [ 26 , 36 ] and even psychological problems, such as anxiety or sadness [ 5 , 6 , 18 , 37 , 38 ]. Educators have warned about the negative influence that the use of facemasks has, in particular, on the proper development of children’s social life and their interaction with others [ 39 , 40 ], on the development of communication skills [ 13 , 21 ], on sound recognition and vocal self-perception [ 11 , 14 , 19 , 20 ], and on the development of speech skills [ 11 , 12 , 41 ].…”

“…Among these transformations, the imposition of the mandatory use of facemasks in many countries as a sanitary measure stands out [ 4 ]. This fact has not left the educational field indifferent, which has been affected by the alteration of word and emotion recognition processes [ 5 , 6 ].…”